4 Tips for Organising Big Launch Events with Small Price Tags

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Your product launching event can be just as a grand as a corporation's by following these four tips, the first of which is setting the right scene for your launch.

By hosting a launch, you're letting people see you face-to-face, so engage in human interaction that can lead to good business ties down the road.

Finally, create content that your attendees will want to share, and providing online offers that will create engagement with your launch.

SMEs can launch like a big brand, without the big price tag, and we'll show you how.

We manage the launch events for brands of all shapes and sizes and know that the building blocks for a successful launch come down to the same principles every time.

The key is to focus on four key elements of your event: scene setting, authentic connections, shareable content, and online offerings. By concentrating your effort on these high-impact areas, you will keep costs down without suppressing your reach.

We recently launched a new device for a large global tech company, with the budget to match. Olympians were hired to demonstrate the features of the device, the grand reveal onstage used a unique performance artist and the cocktail party went long into the night. However, a large portion of buzz created by this event can be put down to nailing the four key elements.

You can distill a launch event like this down to a more affordable price point by focusing on these four elements:

1. Scene Setting

Pre-event activities can dramatically impact how your attendees perceive your brand before they even set foot through the door.

By setting the scene with invitations, information packs, and teasers, you will build a sense of anticipation. It’s vital every touch point before the event is on brand and echoes the same clear set of messages relating to your launch. This will ensure attendees feel a sense of familiarity with your brand and are more likely to connect authentically.

2. Authentic Connections

This is the reason face-to-face events are still vital to businesses. People still like to buy from people they have connected with and have judged as worthy.

A launch event is the perfect time to connect on a human level with your attendees. The best way to do this is to share your story and show the human side to your business. Maybe this is a description of your manufacturing process or the history of the companies founders.

By peeling back the layers of "marketing" and showing attendees a bit about the building blocks of your business, you are proving you are trustworthy. This will set you apart from competitors.

3. Shareable Content

To extend the life of your event, you will want content to be easily accessed by attendees and non-attendees. We have seen events with only 50 attendees go viral by harnessing the power of having unique decorations, which were snapped, posted on Instagram, and shared by influencers.

We are also advocates for sharing your exclusive event content online after the launch. By creating an online briefcase with easily accessible presentation slides or video recordings you can reinforce your message with attendees. This is also a good opportunity to have your content reach a larger audience, encouraging your attendees to share this information.

4. Online Offerings

There are so many excellent online tools to boost engagement with your attendees outside the hours of your launch event.

By polling your attendees online before the event, you can tailor the experience more to their tastes and create an increasingly personalized experience. You can take this as far as you like, from the colour of their name badge to a custom cocktail for each attendee.

Creating an online competition for an event can also amplify its impact. We have often leveraged a giveaway to build excitement for an event. When you advertise you will be drawing the winner of the competition at the event, giving attendees another reason to ensure they come along.

Francesca Peskops is the co-founder and creative director of Event Emporium. Over the last few decades she has delivered some of Australia's most innovative brand experiences to our nation’s biggest companies, from Samsung and Disney to financial institutions, consumer brands, arts organisations and anything in between.

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Comments (1)

I would also add "Urgency" and "Limited Availability". Urgency helps give customers a reason to get involved immediately or at leat very quickly. Limited Availability builds on urgency by giving customers a reason to take action (fear of missing out aka FOMO). Also limited availability makes the event seem exclusive and desirable. If the event is open to everyone and there is no reason to purchase or get involved early people will typically wait until the last minute to act if they act at all.